Automatic clutch



April 5 1927 F. L. BRoUssoUsE AUTOMATI C CLUTC H Original Filed Jan. 6, 1923 Immun* W/f l l Patented Apr. 5, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT foFFlcE.

FERNAND LOUIS `BROUSSOUSE, OF PARIS, FRANCE, ASSIGINOR T PAUL JULES LE lOUCHEB, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

AUTOMATIC CLUTCH.

Original application filed January 6, 1923, Serial No. 611,150, and in France January 11, 1922. Divided and this application iiled March 7, 1925. Serial No. 13,895.

The application is a division of my copending vapplication for automatic clutches Ser. No. 611,150 iiledJanuary 6, 1923, and concerns more particularly a pulley containing the said clutch whichis designed for the main purpose of obtaining a pro sive automatic starting of a'driven sha t, in spite of the instantaneous starting of the driving motor.

llhe operative pressure, which according to the said pending specification is givenby the springs 10, may be obtained by any convenient means, and the present invention refers to a constructional form of the said clutch, in which the said pressure is given by centrifugal force.

I have shown on the accompanying drawings a constructional form of a belt pulley intended to be keyed on the shaft of amotor, for instance of an electric motor, and which is provided with the connection device according to my invention.

Fig 1 is' a longitudinal section of the pulley, and Fig. 2 Yis a cross section.

In the said figures, the central hub 1 coniprises a collar or iange 2 provided with notches such as 3, each of which controls, for instanceby means of pins 14, a metallic 3o sector, such as 4, the lateral faces of which are suitably inclined, as shown.

During the rotation of the shaft -and of the hub 1, the sectors 4 are brought, undercentrifugal force with their inclined faces pulley body 8 and 5, 6 respectively upon the and the slope of the cover 9 of the same, the said faces is such that ing eect is obtained ata given speed of the hub 1. It is to be understood that the hubV '40 1 and the prts rigidly connected thereto or integral't erewith constitute the drive member and that the pulley and its cover constitute the driven member.

In the said constructional form, as well as in the parent speciiication, oil is placed in cavity 12 so that when the pulley is at rest the level is regulated by the ition of the filling hole 13, that is, the 011 level .attains to the line MN. This assures that the desired clutch-4 the revolutions of -the inner periphery of the chamber 12, thus constituting a liquid ring around the parts 4, so that the oil does not then contact with the friction surfaces 5, 6 of the sectors 4 and the corresponding surfaces ofthe body 8 and cover 9 of th'e pulley. The spaces 11 provided between the sectors .4 act in a similar manner to the radial slots discs referred to in the parent specification. A progressiveness of clutching is thus obtained since as the s eed increases the inclined faces 5 and 6 o? the shoes or sectors 4 are more firmly pressed against the correspondingly linclined faces of the body 8 and its cover 9 under the action of centrifugal force and at thrown out from faces by centrifugal etlicient of friction.

between these engaging force. to increase the co- On the other hand when the speed decreases below a predetermined value the oil flows back in between the engaging faces to decrease the coeiiicient of friction and the shoes are less forcibly urged outwardly.

What I claim is: p 1. -A clutch comprising a driving member,` a driven member having means providing an oil chamber in its outer portion, and friction clutch shoes frictionally engageable with the driven member, and means for' connecting the shoes to the driving member in such manner as, to. rmitv limited radial move- 'ment of the shoes relative to the driven member while affording a positive connection in reach that of theA provided in the the same time the oil is a driven member having 'side walls provided with outwardly converging inner aces`7 clutch shoes of segmeniai form and having inciined `friction side faces frictionaiiy engageabie with the converging faces of the side Walls, and means for positively 5 connecting the shoes io the driving member while permitting limited. radial movement., Said driven member having an oil chamber between the ouei portions oif its converging side faces. i

iin testimony whereof TL have hereunto m sei; my hand at Paris this 20th .day of February, 1925.

-EFERNAND LUUiiS BRUUSSUSE. 

